Countdown is a British game show involving word and mathematical tasks that began airing in November 1982. It is broadcast on Channel 4 and is currently presented by Colin Murray, assisted by Rachel Riley with lexicographer Susie Dent. It was the first programme to be broadcast on Channel 4 and 89 series have been broadcast since its debut on 2 November 1982. With over 8,000 episodes, Countdown is one of Britain's longest-running game shows; the original French version, Des chiffres et des lettres, has been running on French television continuously since 1965. Countdown was produced by Yorkshire Television and was recorded at The Leeds Studios for 27 years, before moving to the Manchester-based Granada Studios in 2009. Following the development of MediaCityUK, Countdown moved again in 2013 to the new purpose-built studios at Dock10 in Greater Manchester.
Felicity Ann Kendal is an English actress, working principally in television and theatre. She has appeared in numerous stage and screen roles over a more than 70-year career, but the role that brought attention to her career was that of Barbara Good in the 1975 television series The Good Life.
Dame Carol Ann Duffy is a Scottish poet and playwright. She is a professor of contemporary poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was appointed Poet Laureate in May 2009, and her term expired in 2019. She was the first female poet, the first Scottish-born poet and the first openly lesbian poet to hold the Poet Laureate position.
Carol Jean Vorderman, is a Welsh broadcaster, media personality, and writer. Her career began in 1982 when she joined the Channel 4 game show Countdown, appearing on the show with Richard Whiteley from 1982 until his death in 2005, and subsequently with Des Lynam and Des O'Connor, before leaving in 2008.
Fiona Elizabeth Bruce is a British journalist, newsreader, and television presenter. She joined the BBC as a researcher for there current affairs program Panorama in 1989, and became the first female newsreader BBC News at Ten, as well as presenting many flagship programmes for the corporation, including BBC News at Six, Crimewatch, Real Story, Antiques Roadshow, and Fake or Fortune? Since 10 January 2019, she has been the presenter of the BBC One television programme Question Time.
The Real Thing is a play by Tom Stoppard that was first performed in 1982. The play focuses on the relationship between Henry and Annie, an actress and member of a group fighting to free Brodie, a Scottish soldier imprisoned for burning a memorial wreath during a protest.
Australia's Next Top Model is an Australian reality television series which premiered on 11 January 2005 and concluded on 22 November 2016, and was based on Tyra Banks' America's Next Top Model. It was broadcast on the Australian subscription television channel, Fox8.
Richard & Judy was a British television chat show presented by the married couple Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan. The show originally aired on Channel 4 from 26 November 2001 to 22 August 2008, but later moved to digital channel Watch from 7 October 2008 to 1 July 2009.
Nicholas Barry Chinn is an English-American songwriter and record producer. Together with Mike Chapman he had a long string of hit singles in the US and UK in the 1970s and early 1980s, including several international number-one records. The duo wrote hits for the Sweet, Suzi Quatro, Mud, New World, Arrows, Racey, Smokie, Tina Turner, Huey Lewis and the News, Exile and Toni Basil.
Flavor of Love is an American reality television dating game show starring Flavor Flav of the rap group Public Enemy.
Michael Donald Chapman is an Australian record producer and songwriter who was a major force in the British pop music industry in the 1970s. He created a string of hit singles for artists including The Sweet, Suzi Quatro, Smokie, Mud and Racey with business partner Nicky Chinn, creating a sound that became identified with the "Chinnichap" brand. He later produced breakthrough albums for Blondie and The Knack. Chapman received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 2014 Australia Day Honours.
Richard Peter John Fairbrass is an English singer, bassist, and television presenter, best known as lead singer of the pop group Right Said Fred, who achieved hits in the early 1990s including the singles "I'm Too Sexy" and "Deeply Dippy". He and his band have won two Ivor Novello Awards. Sold over 50 million dollars in record sales.
Gameshow Marathon was a British game show, broadcast on ITV from 17 September 2005 to 26 May 2007, Returned for charity in the March of 2017. After a quick retrospective look at the history of the particular show, the show itself is recreated. This involves recreating the original set and using original opening programme titles, including the appropriate producer ident. All participants are celebrities, and any prizes won go into a "Viewer Prize Mountain" which is awarded to a viewer via a phone-in competition.
The Pride of Britain Awards is an annual award ceremony which has taken place in the United Kingdom since May 1999 and first televised on ITV in April 2000.
The second season of The Celebrity Apprentice Australia began airing on 18 April 2012 on the Nine Network. The series was commissioned in late 2011 following the popularity of the first celebrity season, and will be the third edition of The Apprentice Australia overall. The official cast was announced in January 2012, with filming beginning on 15 January 2012. Mark Bouris returned as CEO, with his son Dane replacing Brad Seymour as boardroom advisor, alongside Deborah Thomas. TV personality Ian "Dicko" Dickson was the celebrity winner, defeating reality star Nathan Jolliffe in the final boardroom.
Lynsey Sharp is a former Scottish track and field athlete who competed in the 800 metres. She is the 2012 European champion and represented Great Britain at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. She won a silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Her personal best is 1:57.69, the seventh fastest time over 800m by a British woman, set in the final of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Food Glorious Food is a British cooking competition show that aired on ITV from 27 February to 24 April 2013, hosted by Carol Vorderman with judges Tom Parker Bowles, Loyd Grossman, Anne Harrison, Stacie Stewart and Andi Oliver who was a guest judge for the Harrogate heats. The competition, in which anyone of any age could enter, searched the country looking for the best home cooked dish, with the winner receiving £20,000 and their dish made and sold by Marks & Spencer.
Miss Bumbum is an annual beauty pageant held in Brazil to reward the owner of the best buttocks in the country. Created by journalist and entrepreneur Cacau Oliver, the competition has 27 contestants, each of whom represents one of the country's 27 states. The winner receives 50,000 Brazilian reais in endorsement deals, and instantly becomes a celebrity in Brazil. Brazilian television network RedeTV! broadcasts the event. The reigning title holder is Larissa Sumpani.
Natalie Ann Cassidy is an English actress. She has played Sonia Fowler in EastEnders since 1993, appeared in the BBC Two sitcom-horror Psychoville and was a contestant on the seventh series of Strictly Come Dancing and the ninth series of Celebrity Big Brother.
Elizabeth Is Missing is a 2021 British television drama film directed by Aisling Walsh, adapted by Andrea Gibb from the novel of the same name by Emma Healey. It was broadcast on 8 December 2019 on BBC One. It stars Glenda Jackson as Maud, an elderly woman living with dementia who struggles to piece together a double mystery.
